Hi there!Newbie here. Very glad to find somewhere I can post concerns and talk to other parrot owners! It's a bit of a relief, if I'm honest.

So here's the rundown. I have only very recently brought home my first green cheek conure just a week ago. So far, so good - the bird, Taako, has it's wings clipped, very well done, and recently passed it's wellness check with flying colours. Only just over 2 months old, so it's gender remains a mystery. Going through hand-taming and Taako is learning very quickly! Except about two days ago, when I went to return Taako to the cage, we didn't want to return. Instead, Taako has taken a liking to hiding under my ponytail better than being in the cage.

While I'm glad Taako has taken to me so quickly, this means whenever I try to get him to spend time in the cage and entertain himself, he stresses and wants to get out instead. He came from a home with lots of siblings, so I understand why he doesn't like being left alone. He's not completely isolated either, can still see and hear us, just can't get out. I'm not really sure where to go from here. He doesn't take an interest in toys, and usually takes about half an hour to settle, at which point he naps (probably tired out). I could entice him with some treats? But I fear once those are depleted the same behaviour would begin. So any suggestions at this point would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

How much time are you letting your baby spend with you? I have 0 exp. on raising baby birds all mine were adults when they got here but my thought are more special cuddle time is needed. While a baby, while this young great time to introduce veggies and fruits and all the right foods. I never had that luxury , I always had to fix garbage eating habits someone with baby bird exp. will respond . BW

At two months of age, your bird is a very young baby and babies cry when they are alone from fear and anxiety - it's as simple as that. We accept this truth in human babies and even puppies and kittens but, maybe because baby birds are almost as big as adults, we seem to miss it in them. The reason why it likes to hide under your pony tail is that, most likely, it feels the same as being s under momma's wing which is the rightful place for a baby bird. So I am afraid that there is no advice that anybody can give you that it's going to change this. People will tell you to let it scream and not to go to it until it shuts up so as to 'teach' it that it needs to be alone but I am sure that the same people would not give this advice to a new mother who wants her baby to 'learn' not to cry when alone... I don't think that people do it out of meanness, mind you, I think they do it because, to them, a baby bird doesn't rate as high as a human baby or because they don't realize that the advice is cruel.

I don't know if you already know this, if you do, just skip over it but, in case you don't, let me tell you a bit about GCCs. They never do well in a cage alone and they never do well clipped - they all end up screaming and biting. Please understand that I am not criticizing you or trying to make you feel bad, I am simply stating a fact of nature. GCCs are intensely needy of human company (I often compare them to cockatoos in this) and, to them, seeing you and hearing you but not been able to reach you so they can be ON you (the only thing that makes them happy), is a kind of torture. I know this sounds extreme but it's the way nature created them and every single one out there that screams and/or bites because of a lack of enough or adequate interaction, is an unhappy bird because, to them, having their body touching yours all the time is not a luxury, it's a physical need. This is, of course, aggravated by the fact that we are talking about a baby. I have a female GCC right now but I've had four altogether (the others were rehabilitated, switched to a good, fresh food diet and rehomed -all came to me because of biting and, in one case, constant screaming and they all stopped and are still doing well in their new homes). My Cody is the sweetest little thing, she never screams, she never bites, she doesn't have a single stress bar (most GCCs out there have them), eats VERY well, bathes often, etc. She has a good size cage (but not huge) in front of a window and she comes out every day to spend a good two solid hours on me while I do my morning chores downstairs BUT she also has a mate so, when she goes back to her cage, she is not alone.

Are you handfeeding it? Because at its age, it still needs it along with soft food served fresh and warm twice a day. And, please, make sure you are not free-feeding protein food because that's real bad for them (they are mainly fruit eaters in the wild).

I rescued a gcc, not so long ago and as soon as I started to bond with him and get him comfortable now interacting, putting him back would take sometimes up to an hour, my gcc isn't clipped so he would fly every times onto the top of the cage every time u got him near the door, and he would have a full on tantrum and argue with you like a toddler, this then became difficult because if only get him out when I had long enough to mess about putting him back and I wasn't still working on the biting behaviour from being in a previous abusive home so my partner would have to take the nips and arguments to put him back and he would cry once back in, he then associated my patentet with going back in the cage and would refuse to step up on him and would just argue all the time (for a few mins the arguments where cute and funny) what I found was I started leaving him out of his cage on his own and he ended up putting him self back and often into bed as he loves his cosey bird bed, if I can't get him back in I leave the room (it's safe for him to be alone) and I pop in every so often to make sure he's okay. But after doing this a few times he now just goes in and out his cage as and when he wants, but I do have another bird in that room, shes a baby still but it's company and I guess he never feels he's on his own, I always leave the radio, tv on for him too so he's doesn't feel too lonely when I'm bot there. But gcc love people, they want to spend almost all there time with you, sometimes when mine has put himself back in I sit there with him when the door is shut so it doesn't feel like punishement. But your bird is very young! And if it's bonded with you being alone in the cage could be lonely, make sure you have favourite food in the cage, toys and so on I always give reggie a grape as soon as he puts himself in the cage, but I did resist shutting the cage as soon as he now puts himself in so he doesn't think I'll just shut it as soon as he sees in. However he still will have a tantrum if I want to put him back and it's not his decision